Current efforts to shorten the overall length of umbrellas for convenient carrying and storing have resulted in umbrellas in which the frame and shaft of the umbrella can be collapsed and extended as desired. These efforts have generally involved structures in which a unitary handle slides along the end of the umbrella shaft. The umbrella handle itself does not generally have a telescopic configuration or feature. For example, in Weber, U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,949, issued Jul. 25, 1972, an umbrella has a hollow open-ended handle at one end which is axially movable relative to the shaft, but which does not extend the effective length of the handle. Other examples of handles which are retractable include, for example, Weber, U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,657, issued Dec. 3, 1974.
Since compactness is desirable, some umbrellas have a very short handle which is difficult to hold. If the handle is made longer, the length of the umbrella increases.